Logan Alexandra, Yule Elisa, Taylor Michael, Imms Christine
School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
Aust Occup Ther J. 2018 Dec;65(6):494-502. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12484. Epub 2018 May 28.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Australian accreditation standards for occupational therapy courses require consumer participation in the design, delivery and evaluation of programs. This study investigated whether a mental health consumer - as one of two assessors for an oral assessment in a mental health unit - impacted engagement, anxiety states and academic performance of undergraduate occupational therapy students.
Students (n = 131 eligible) self-selected into two groups but were blinded to the group differences (assessor panel composition) until shortly prior to the oral assessment. Control group assessors were two occupational therapy educators, while consumer group assessors included an occupational therapy educator and a mental health consumer.
Pre- and post-assessment data were successfully matched for 79 students (overall response rate = 73.1%). No evidence was found of significant differences between the two groups for engagement, anxiety or academic performance (all P values >0.05).
Including mental health consumers as assessors did not negatively impact student engagement and academic performance, nor increase student anxiety beyond that typically observed in oral assessment tasks. The findings provide support for expanding the role of mental health consumers in the education and assessment of occupational therapy students. Development of methods to determine the efficacy of consumer involvement remains an area for future research.
背景/目的：澳大利亚职业治疗课程的认证标准要求消费者参与课程的设计、实施和评估。本研究调查了作为心理健康科口试两名评估者之一的心理健康消费者，是否会影响本科职业治疗专业学生的参与度、焦虑状态和学业成绩。
学生（n = 131名符合条件）自行选择分为两组，但在口试前不久才知晓组间差异（评估小组组成）。对照组评估者为两名职业治疗教育工作者，而消费者组评估者包括一名职业治疗教育工作者和一名心理健康消费者。
成功匹配了79名学生的评估前和评估后数据（总体回复率 = 73.1%）。未发现两组在参与度、焦虑或学业成绩方面存在显著差异（所有P值>0.05）。
将心理健康消费者纳入评估者并未对学生的参与度和学业成绩产生负面影响，也未使学生焦虑超过口试任务中通常观察到的水平。研究结果为扩大心理健康消费者在职业治疗专业学生教育和评估中的作用提供了支持。确定消费者参与效果的方法开发仍是未来研究的一个领域。
